Starter Problems of Toyota Sienna

Starter problem of the 1998 Toyota Sienna
1

Failure Date: 06/05/2013

I came home and turned my ignition switch off but my 1998 Toyota van kept running. Turning the key on and off did not turn it off. I tried shutting it down with the ignition switch again and again and again. I tried turining it off again while moving the gear selector lever but to no avail. I begin to smell burning rubber. I lifted the hood and realized the engine was being turned over by the starter which was not disengaging and starting to smoke. Then tons of smoke began boiling off the starter. I disconnected the positive battery connection and the engaged starter stopped cranking the engine. Heavy smoke continued boiling from the starter for about a minute longer. I was very glad I was not inside the garage because I think the starter could have started a fire or the smoke would have smothered me.

Starter problem of the 2004 Toyota Sienna
2

Failure Date: 06/15/2011

Most recently, passenger side automatic door stopped mid-way, I closed it manually, drove a couple of feet and turned off the car. Then the car would not start. Door is not working automatically only manually. Started easiy with jumper cables but continues to not start on its own most of the time, usually when engine is cold it won't start on its won. This happened about 8 months ago and dealer said it needed a starter even though I showed printout from tow truck showing it wasn't the starter. This also happened some time before that and dealer said I needed a new battery and that seemed to fix the problem temporarily. This has been a problem since I first purchased the car and the dealer did not fix the problem.

Starter problem of the 1999 Toyota Sienna
3

Failure Date: 06/16/2008

I am the first owner of the 1999 Toyota Sienna le with which has only 61,000 miles so far. However, in the evening of two days ago, I started it and couldn't stop it anymore. It kept running even I took the key out. I was so afraid of causing fire eventually, but I still had to drive around trying to stop it. Eventually I smelt something burning and I was able to stop it from running. The car was towed to Toyota dealer in dublin, CA to have the starter replaced. This is scary problem for the car I bought in the belief of safety and reliability.

Starter problem of the 2000 Toyota Sienna
4

Failure Date: 10/27/2005

When I tried to start my 2000 Toyota Sienna minivan last week, it did not start normally and it made a strange noise. I turned off the ignition, and the noise continued. I removed the key from the ignition and the car continued to make noise. It appeared that the car was still trying to start, even though the key was no longer in the ignition. The car was making a chugging noise - that might have sounded like it was running to someone not familiar with the car. I did not know how to get the car to stop. I called for a friend to come and help. He arrived approximately five minutes later - the car was chugging continuously all this time and my garage (where the van was parked) was starting to smell. My friend attempted to turn the van on and off again - this had no effect. He opened the hood, (there was some smoke) and eventually disconnected the battery using a wrench - this finally stopped the van. He believes that a fire would have started had he not disconnected the battery. The van was towed to a Toyota dealership, where they replaced the starter. They said that the starter must have shorted out and that it was a good thing that we disconnected the battery. This happened in my garage in my home as I was about to take my children to school. I afraid that this defect could have caused a serious fire, damage to my home and possibly serious injury to my children and myself.

Starter problem of the 2001 Toyota Sienna
5

Failure Date: 07/26/2005

We own a 2001 Toyota Sienna van, we purchased it in 2001 but it was used with 18,000 miles on it. Since purchasing the vehicle, several things have gone wrong. #1- passenger side power window had a defective motor and would not go back up. Took it to the dealer who said it was not covered under warranty, so we had to pay out of pocket for that repair. #2- driver's side sliding door would not latch shut. The button got stuck from the inside which prevented the door from latching shut. This had happened many times before but we were able to get the button popped out and the door would shut. But on one occasion the button popped out and the door still would not shut. We had to drive home holding the door shut the entire way! of course, this is a huge safety issue with our 2 young children in the car. The problem was fixed at the dealer (again not under warranty), but the door still can not be opened from the inside, or the button gets stuck in. #3- check engine light came on and a diagnostic test revealed the following problems- idle air control, bank 1 sensor (most likely oxygen sensor), leaky charcoal canister. We fixed the idle air control since that was causing the van to not start and stall. This repair was almost $700, and not covered under warranty because we had gone over 36,000 miles. We did not fix the other two problems last month due to cost. The van overheats and can not be driven. We wrote a letter to Toyota and talked to them via phone. They told us there is nothing they can do because our van is not a legal us van- it is was built in canada. We bought it at a Toyota dealer in rochester, NY and were never told it was canadian. We were also told that no warranty would ever be covered in the us because it is canadian. Carfax. Com says it was built in the united states however. We tried to go the route of the lemon law, but could not.